


“A thousand different paths, and I’m still stuck with you.”

by MeMyselfandI2008



Category: Carmen Sandiego (Cartoon 2019)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Cross-Posted on Wattpad, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Light Angst, One Shot Collection, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmates, short one shots
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-04
Updated: 2020-03-15
Packaged: 2020-12-17 07:34:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21050669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MeMyselfandI2008/pseuds/MeMyselfandI2008
Summary: Some nights, Chase Devineaux would forget he had a soulmate.Other nights, he’d lay awake in his bed, wondering just who he was meant to spend the rest of his life with.—Carmen had always been curious about who her soulmate was. Even when she was on VILE Island, she would always dream of who the person was that would steal her heart away.Then she met Chase Devineaux.





	1. Gray-Blue

**Author's Note:**

> Just a few short little one-shots that take place in different Soulmate AU’s, with Chase and Carmen, because this ship needs more love, darn it!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For the longest time, Chase suspected he didn’t have a soulmate. Until one day, he woke up to find one of his eyes had changed color.
> 
> [Soulmates AU in which one of your eye’s is the same color as your soulmate.]

Something always felt wrong every time Chase met his own gaze. It was a constant reminder that something—_someone _ was missing.

His parents reassured him that his soulmate simply had the same eye color has he did, but those words didn’t mean anything to Chase. He knew, deep down, he didn’t have a soulmate, because if he did have one, surely he wouldn’t feel so lonely. 

Though, that changed on one particular day that he couldn’t quite remember. He had woken up in the early hours of the day to prepare for school. 

As he flicked on the bathroom light, he silently readied himself to look in the mirror, even though it never got any easier. But as he turned to look at his reflection, he was met with a striking gray-blue eye.

He sucked in a breath, mouth agape, and suddenly, he didn’t feel so lonely anymore.


	2. Not so Black & White

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> During Carmen’s first encounter with Chase, she sees color for the first time.
> 
> [Soulmate AU where, when you see your soulmate for the first time, you see color.]

Carmen felt her breath catch in her throat as her gaze met with the Frenchmen that just burst through the door, eyes piercing. She only froze for a second, watching as color seeped into her once black and white world.

“Stop! Thief!” he ordered, as if he hadn’t noticed the sudden burst of color that invaded his vision.

Truthfully, Chase had noticed. He just simply ignored it. Even if the elusive Carmen Sandiego were his soulmate, he still had a job to do, and  _ she _ was still an international thief.

He ran up to her, only to barely trip over a footrest that she had slid in front of him and fall onto the hard floor as Carmen used him to push herself up into the air, and land gracefully in front of the open door.

“On whose authority?” she raised an eyebrow, watching as the Frenchman got up from the ground, fixing his hair.

“On the authority of, uh…” he trailed off as he reached into his coat for his badge, only to discover that it was missing.

“Inspector Chase Devineaux, Interpol,” Carmen read aloud, looking over the badge she had swiped from him, “‘Chase,’ huh?” Carmen couldn’t help but smirk, “Let’s see what’s in a name.”

She knew it was a bad idea to get distracted in her line of work, but the fact she had met her soulmate so suddenly surprised her. She hoped, silently, they would meet again. Even if, for the time being, they were at odds, she’d like to see him in her life more often.


	3. We are Bound Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chase finds himself unable to sleep, and decides to get some fresh air. He finds an unexpected visitor greeting him.
> 
> [Soulmate AU where you and your soulmate are connected by a red string tied around your finger.]

The night air was cold, yet comforting. The day had been long and exhausting, but that was to be expected when working to catch an international thief. Chase winced at the reminder of the crimson shadow, tossing several mints into his mouth and leaning against the railing of his small balcony.

He had thought about taking his medication—he knew he needed sleep, terribly. But a small part of him didn’t want to go to sleep. He had no doubt that if he did, he’d see red—a color he began to loath over the past few days.

“You’re up pretty late, aren’t you inspector?” an all too familiar voice chimed from seemingly nowhere, “Or would it be considered early?”

Chase felt his breath catch in his throat, turning just in time to see Carmen Sandiego land gracefully a few paces away from him, a smile playing on her face, “Le femme rouge…” his voice was barely a whisper, his body tensing up at the sight of her.

She leaned her back against the railing, arms crossed, far too relaxed for Chase’s liking, “You’re not going to try and arrest me again, are you?” she asked, eyebrow raised.

The Frenchman briefly thought over the question, then sighed, almost in a defeated manner, turning his focus back to the quiet streets below them, “Consider this a free pass,” he muttered, “What are you even doing here, Carmen?” he side-eyed her, suspicion in his gaze.

“I was in the neighborhood and,” she paused, glancing into the inspectors’ less than clean apartment, “I wanted to see how you were doing,” her gaze gentle and her voice holding a sensarity to it that Chase wasn’t used to receiving.

“I’m doing quite alright,” he couldn’t help the underlying tension held in his words. He almost sounded offended by the statement, and truthfully, he was. Of course he was doing alright. It’s not as if he was completely defenseless, despite what she might believe. He was fully capable of taking care of himself, thank you very much.

There was a beat of silence, neither sure of what else to say.

Chase kept his gaze locked on the dark streets, pretending to ignore the light shifting beside him, and the ghost of a hand that was too hesitant to cup his face, a gentle weight pressing into his side.

Carmen was the first to break the silence, “Hey, Chase.”

“Hm…”

She turned to him, meeting his sideways glance, “Get some sleep, okay?” her voice was soft, quiet, hand lightly squeezing the inspectors arm, “If you really want to catch me, you should be in your best condition,” her smile had always been contagious—at least, that’s what Ivy and Zack have always told her.

It must be true, or maybe she was just as tired as Chase, because she could have sworn she’d seen the faintest of smiles on his face.

He didn’t like the fact that Carmen was his soulmate, and the incessant tugging at his pinky would never not be annoying, but deep down, he knew a small part of him loved her. She was right, though. If he wanted to catch her, he had to be in his right mind, and that required sleep.

“Fine,” he pulled himself away from her, moving to enter his apartment through the sliding door. He paused, just short of entering, almost as if he was thinking something over, “Goodnight, mon chéri…”

Before Carmen had the chance to reply, Chase let himself in, and shut the door behind him, and just like that, the crimson shadow was gone, and his resentment towards her shrank just the slightest bit.


	4. “So we beat on...”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Black Sheep didn’t pay much attention to what her soulmate wrote on their arm, but no matter what, one phrase always seemed to stay on their arm.  
[Soulmate AU where, if you write on your skin, it’ll show up on your soulmate.]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was fueled by absolute spite.
> 
> The most recent CarChase fic in the AO3 tag was literally a jab at the ship, and I am not having that.
> 
> Consider this a revolt.

Jean Paul was the first to point it out.

After their detention was over, he had pulled Black Sheep aside while the others filed out of the room, “Black Sheep, I wanted to ask,” he began, once the others were out of earshot, gesturing to her arm, “Why’d you write that on your arm?”

She raised an eyebrow, looking down at the writing that he was referring to, “Oh,” she smiled, shrugging her shoulders, “That’s my soulmate,” she explained simply, “They always rewrite it, so it doesn’t get ruined. I’m not sure why, but it’s nice to look at every once in a while.”

“Huh…” Jean Paul couldn’t help but stare at the words spoken in his own language. Unable to think of anything else to say, he shrugged, starting his walk towards the exit of the room, “Let’s go see where the others went.”

Black Sheep followed him without a word, a content silence settling over them.

+

After that first time, everyone seemed to ask Black Sheep about the phrase, always expecting her to have an answer, when she didn’t.

She wasn’t sure why her soulmate continuously rewrote it whenever it was fading, or why it was in French, or what the phrase even meant. 

“I don’t know,” she’d always say, shrugging her shoulders, “But it’s nice to look at…”

And that was the truth.

If she was being completely honest, that single phrase always kept her going. Especially during the night she escaped the island and made a new name for herself.

It filled her with hope—she would stop VILE, no matter what it took.

+

Carmen tried to ignore the pit in her stomach as she saw the Frenchman in such a delirious state. He had been handcuffed to a chair, a VILE helmet contaminating his brain.

He laughed, “So, you finally show your face!” his words were slurred, tired, “I _ knew _ you were behind this!”

She hushed him as she approached, guilt pressing down on her shoulders, “Easy, Devineaux,” she spoke quickly, but gently as she removed the Truth Extracter, tossing it to the side, kneeling so she was eye level with him, “We _ need _ to get you out of here.”

The look in his eyes was nothing short of exhausted anger. She walked behind him, pulling out her taser, only to pause short as words she had seen all her life caught her eye.

A lump formed in her throat, her thumb gently tracing along the line of writing that was smudged on his skin. Chase was probably so confused—what was this thief doing to him? Why was she rubbing his arm?

Truth be told, she was confused too. Tears were burning at the corners of her eyes, questions clouding her brain, memories flashing to her mind.

“_‘So we beat on, boats against the current...’_” she whispered.

“Red,” Player’s voice rang in her ears, “You okay?”

Carmen swallowed, wiping a stray tear that had slipped from her eye, “Yeah, I’m fine…” she quickly broke off the handcuffs, her heart thudding in her chest.

She had to put her personal feelings aside and focus. Her number one priority right now should be getting Chase out of this situation safely. She could worry about the phrase on his arm later.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to let me know your thoughts in the comments section!


End file.
